6 Tips To Ensure You’ll Love Your Wedding Gown

Well I don’t think my job would be “my job” without a little wedding gown drama now and then. Recently one of our “encore” brides “Paula” (name changed for privacy) decided at her most recent gown fitting—just 3 months before the wedding—didn’t like her dress, and felt down about her body image. Believe it or not, this is not the first time a situation like this has happened in our experience.

In an email sent to me, Paula wanted to be sure I fully understood exactly where she stands about her mishap, because I was going to attempt to work with the gown shop in trying to finagle a way to make this work. Again, this wasn’t a situation where she put a gown on “hold” or placed a “deposit”, this was Paula’s chosen and fully paid wedding gown, which was supposed to be ready for the first round of alterations. In Paula’s words (note: Paula has given me permission to share her email in this blog):

Dress shopping for my first marriage was a breeze. You try on one fabulous dress, it fits perfect, you have that “feeling” and you move on.

You do what every bride to be does, look at the magazines, look online, watch all those fun TLC shows….you think you know what you want, you certainly know what you don’t want.

Fast forward 12 years and a baby later. You go into the process thinking you will have the same experience, that magic moment. What your brain forgot is there’s some body issues going on and stuff is not in the same place.

Paula’s Original Gown She Chose

Even if it’s not your second wedding or you are not a mom, I’m sure you could relate to Paula’s situation. Did Paula go about it the wrong way or make some terrible error in the wedding gown selection process? No. Even with our 6 Tips To Ensure You’ll Love Your Wedding Gown as informative guidance, Paula simply felt that after 9 dress shops and 80 gowns later, she really felt the pressure to pick something.

This story does have a happy ending though. The dress shop’s specialty seamstress has begun working with Paula to redesign the gown (a little trim here, take from here, reattach here) so that she will have a gown that she will love, without sacrificing her payment and needing to start from scratch.

6 Tips To Ensure You’ll Love Your Wedding Gown

1) What’s NOT to Love. It’s easy to pin/cut-out images of gowns that you like. Do yourself a favor and also have a board/folder for those designs and details that you DON’T like. Sometimes focusing on what not to wear helps your stylist in determining the right shape, silhouette and gown for you

2) The Top Has All The Glory. Remember it’s the top of your gown that usually gets the most attention, especially in photos, as your mostly captured from the waist-up. Don’t spoil the mood with something “trendy” but doesn’t work for your body type (i.e., modest bosom).

3) Designer Gowns, CHEAP. If you’re considering a designer gown, find out if the designer does sample sales (yep, running of the brides), or consider second-time bridal stores or even Ebay.

4) When To Schedule Your Fitting. Try to schedule you’re fitting for the first available morning slot. This tactic usually results in a more energized and focused style consultant.

5) Don’t Stare At It, Try It On. You know the drill—don’t just stare at it on the hanger, try it on! Really, a dress can look absolutely stunning on the right body frame versus hanging on the hanger. However trying on more dresses doesn’t necessarily make it easier to find the right one; it might even backfire actually. If you’re at the point of stress, take a break from gown shopping and reconsider numbers 1 and 2 above.

6) Leave Behind The Drama. Don’t pay attention to the drama or negativity of others. Select the gown that you love, even though it might not be everyone else’s favorite. When I selected my wedding gown but decided to not wed the man I was engaged to at the time, everyone thought I was nuts for choosing that same wedding gown years later when I decided to marry my now husband. Ten years later, I’m still in love with my gown!